Uganda dream comes true

YEARS of tireless fundraising has reaped its final reward for the Hailsham-based Quicken Trust.

On March 28, more than 400 Ugandan orphans living in the jungle village of Kabubbu rallied around and witnessed the official opening of their newly built primary school.

Geoff and Geraldine Booker, a copyright licenser and a private counsellor by day, founded the Quicken Trust in 1996. Since 2000, they have devoted their spare time to raising cash for the AIDS and malaria-orphaned children of Kabubbu.

In addition to the school, Quicken money has paid for a new fresh water supply in the village the only such source for miles around.

On the grand opening day, volunteers including Paula O'Sullivan from Polegate, Mark Upfield from Punnetts Town and Richard Morgan from Hampden Park were in attendance to help put up a chain-link fence around the school's grounds.

The women of Kabubbu had been cooking a feast over log and charcoal fires for 24 hours. The dishes included cassava, Irish potatoes, matoke (a small green banana peeled, boiled and mashed), rice and meat.

Coca-Cola provided hundreds of bottled drinks, and awnings to protect against the midday sun. The villagers, who call themselves 'the forgotten people', could not remember a day like it.

Cycling

The eight-classroom school cost a total of 40,000 to build. By August 2001, the trust had raised 20,000 for the purchase of the land. The remaining 20,000 was raised largely by a 72-hour cycling event held in Vicarage Field last summer.

A similar event is taking place in the town centre during the Charter Market weekend this year, during which the Quicken Trust hopes to raise enough cash to provide further facilities for the children and accommodation for teachers.

Now the trust is urging people to get involved and 'sponsor an orphan' for 17 per month. All money donated goes straight to the orphans administration fees are covered by the trust itself.

For information about the Quicken Trust, write to PO Box 113, Hailsham, BN27 4US, or phone 01323 832361.